2. Description of the Prior Art
One of a plethora of examples of a place where a covering over the bottom of a shoe is particularly desirable is in a hospital. The shoe covering could prevent an accumulation of dirt on the bottom of the shoe resulting in a spread of microbes among a population that has a low resistance to disease. The shoe covering is additionally desirable in many types of industrial establishments, such as a clean room of a semiconductor factory.
Similarly, when a homeowner has a workman install a carpet in a home, it is preferable that the carpet be clean at least prior to either the homeowner or a member of the homeowner's family setting foot on the carpet. Accordingly, it is desirable that the workman wear the shoe covering.
Likewise, when a person enters an automobile, dirt from the person's shoes is usually deposited upon the floor of the automobile. The deposition of the dirt can be prevented by the person wearing the shoe covering prior to entering the automobile.
One of the typical problems of the shoe coverings in the prior art is that they do not fit a multiplicity of sizes of shoes. That is, when the shoe covering fits a small shoe of a female, it usually does not fit a large shoe of a workman. Thus, it is desirable that a shoe covering be able to fit a range of shoe sizes.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the shoe covering be simple and inexpensive to manufacture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,281 discloses a covering that fits almost all sizes of shoes. However, the '281 covering includes elastic yarn and requires a considerable amount of stitching. Therefore, the '281 covering is undesirably complex and may be expensive to manufacture.
There is a need for a shoe covering that fits a multiplicity of sizes of shoes and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.